We visited Rome in 1999 so for this trip we filled in a few gaps of places we hadn't seen including the Trevi fountain which had been under repair then. We saw a funny thing at the Trevi fountain. A man had a wire rod with a magnet on the end and he was stealing the coins back out of the fountain! (I wonder what happens to your wish if the coin gets stolen!!). We revisited the Colosseum which will always be awe inspiring. Right in the middle of Rome and the day to day traffic and hustle and bustle it majestically sits - a reminder of Rome's civilized yet barbaric past.

There is a really nasty side to Rome however,which we experienced first hand. We were getting on a bus with our full packs on after our Southern Italian trip and we had just been to a hotel to book in and they had lost our reservation. Avan had his passport in his pocket as it is required for booking into the hotel. It would not normally have been there. As we boarded the very crowded bus Avan was pushed very hard from behind and he turned and said to the bloke wait your turn and didn't think it was anything other than a push

. The bloke then got on the other bus entrance. As the bus pulled up at the first stop Avan was pushed hard again and grabbed for the hand rail, just then the bus also lurched and as Avans hand came down he knocked something. This was all in a split second but what had actually happened was the man had gone into Avans pocket when his hand was up getting balance, he was then handing the passport to an accomplice when Avans hand came down as the bus lurched and, as amazing luck would have it, Avan knocked his passport out of the thief's hand as he was handing it to the accomplice as she was getting off the bus. As the bus doors closed again we looked down and there was his passport on the bus floor and both thief and accomplice were gone!!!. Such a narrow escape!!.

The very next day while on the subway we witnessed another pickpocket attempt where a gypsy woman with baby pushed hard into a man whilst a 10 year old girl went for his pockets while he was unbalanced. fortunately he also avoided being robbed. The gypsies actually position themselves near the train doors and you feel as if you are running the gauntlet just to get off/on the train! There were many fellow travellers who had similar stories with some losing wallets and bags to the pickpockets.

Footnote: Colosseum Rome, Italy is one of the New Seven Wonders Of The World Winners.